‘Get rid of the death penalty’

by shaila koshy

KUALA LUMPUR: It takes a
combination of the executive, legislature and the judiciary to steer
Malaysia towards the abolition of the death penalty, says Amnesty
International Malaysia.

“The executive must understand the reasons for enacting the policy
and the legislature must understand the reasons for enacting – repealing
and amending – laws,” said its executive director Shamini Darshni.

“The judiciary has a crucial role to play as it deals directly with
people who are impacted by the laws and policies of a country,” she said
in an interview ahead of the first Regional Congress on the Death
Penalty here.

It would take all three, replied Shamini, when asked which branch of
government has been the most supportive in repealing death pe­­nal­ty
provisions in countries that have done away with them.

Malaysian laws provide for both mandatory and discretionary death
sentences and, according to the Home Ministry, there were 975 pri­soners
on death row as at Nov 13.

In December, 117 members of the United Nations’ 193 member states
supported a UN General Assembly resolution for a moratorium on
executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty globally.

Malaysia voted against it, said Shamini.

The two-day meeting beginning June 11 is organised by the French
association Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) in collaboration
with the Anti-Death Penalty Asian Network, Suhakam and the Bar Council.

She added that the congress would allow the global anti-death penalty
movement to demonstrate international support for Malaysia to become a
death penalty-free country.

While the civil society movement in Asia has shown a stronger
commitment towards abolishing the death penalty in recent decades, she
said the region was the “biggest user of this heinous and cruel form of
punishment used in the name of justice”.

Shamini said the movement was targeting the government in gene­ral,
the Attorney-General’s Cham­bers and the Prime Minister’s ­De­­part­ment
specifically for an immediate suspension of the death penalty with a
view to total abolition.

“The death penalty can be a complicated subject but the message we
must drive home is how ineffective it is. It does not reduce or deter
crime, nor does it deter future cri­mi­­nals.

“As the argument for abolition continues, backed up by solid research
from organisations, we hope to change policy within ­go­­vernments of
countries that have the death penalty in place.

“In the end, it takes political will to make a change in national law,” said Shamini.

She added that organisations such as ECPM play a crucial role in
educating the public on the evils and ineffectiveness of the death
pe­nalty through targeted programmes.

A recent public opinion survey commissioned by the Bar Council showed
Malaysians believe in the death penalty but do not want to impose it,
even on those who commit serious crimes such as murder, drug trafficking
and offences under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act.

Asked whether getting rid of the mandatory death penalty, but not the
death penalty itself, half the battle would be won or just baby steps,
Shamini said they opposed the death penalty in all situations.

“Governments must always adhere to international law where the death penalty is concerned.

“Abolishing the mandatory death penalty is a step in the right
direction, but governments must

demonstrate commitment towards complete
abolition by first establishing an official moratorium on executions.

“Another message we want to drive home through this regional congress
is to call on Malaysia and all other Asian governments which retain the
death penalty to commute without delay all death sentences.”

On March 4, 2013, Indonesia ended a four-year moratorium on the death
penalty with the execution of

Adami Wilson, a citizen of Malawi. More
recently, on April 28, a firing squad killed eight prisoners, including
two Australians who had spent a decade in jail.

Asked whether a moratorium was a worse form of torture because of the
uncertainty of when it would end, she said a temporary halt was with a
view to total abolition.

“The mental torture of living under the threat of imminent execution
is certainly more inhumane than a temporary reprieve that a moratorium
allows for,” she added.

Shamini disputed the popular reason given by the executive and
lawmakers that the death penalty was an effective tool in reducing
crime.

“In fact, it has even been recorded that some countries like the
United States bring up debates to retain the death penalty during
election time to chalk up the image of being tough on crime.

“Further, we have witnessed global incidents where the death penalty
was used as a political tool to oppress citizens, like in recent times
in Egypt, where mass sen­tences were imposed.”

Asian Regional Congress to focus on death penalty for drug offences

More
than 300 lawyers, magistrates, parliamentarians, sociologists,
theologians, journalists, NGO members and activists will be attending
the Asian Regional Congress on the death penalty, which will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 June to 12 June.

Speakers at the Congress who hail from Singapore include
Associate Professor Chan Wing Cheong from the Faculty of Law at
the National University of Singapore, and human rights lawyer M Ravi.

The plenary session will focus on the death penalty used as a penalty for drug offences.

The Congress will be hosting delegates from 30 countries, and will
consist of one plenary session, two roundtable discussions and four
workshops.

Topics include:

The inefficiency of death penalty in drug related crimes.

The responsibility of the European countries and UN agencies in financing anti-drug programs in retentionist countries.

Make a clear distinction between the death penalty and the mandatory
death penalty, and to consider the abolition of the mandatory death
penalty as a first step towards total abolition.

Personal experiences of members of the Judiciary when dealing with a death penalty cases.

Discrimination in the use of the death penalty.

Need to respect the criminal procedures set up and guaranteed by the Criminal Procedure Code.

Role of diplomacy and international NGOs in promoting abolition.

Working with the family of the victims.

Integration of educative workshops in academic systems’ curricula

The Congress will also provide an opportunity for journalists
to abolitionist actors, lawyers working with people sentenced to death
in Asia, and victims’ families.

It will also include a cultural programme, which has a component that showcases letters written by former death-row inmate Yong Vui Kong,
who escaped the gallows in Singapore in 2013 when his death sentence
was commuted to life imprisonment following a change in the law on the
mandatory death penalty in Singapore in 2012.

The Asian Regional Congress on the death penalty, held ahead of the
next World Congress in Oslo, Norway in June 2016, is co-organised by the
French organisation Together Against the Death Penalty (Ensemble contre la peine de mort – ECPM)
and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN), in partnership with
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and the Bar Council
Malaysia, under the sponsorship of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and with support of the Australian mission to the United
Nations in Geneva and the European Union.

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